Artificial tree.



No. 632,l'2l. Pat ented Aug. 29, I899. A. HUMMEL.

ARTIFICIAL TREE.

(Application filed May 11, 1899.\

(No Model.

UNTTE STATES PATENT I OFFICE.

ANNAS HUMMEL, OF HUNTINGDON, PENNSYLVANIA.

ARTIFICIAL TREE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 632,121, dated August 29, 18994 I Application filed May 11, 1899. Serial No. 716,449. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANNAS HUMMEL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Huntingdon, in the county of Huntingdon and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Artificial Tree, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in artificial trees, especially adapted for use as a Christmas tree, although parts of the structure may be used for decorative purposes on other festive occasions, such as on national holidays, and they may also be employed for performance of other useful workas, for example, in a clothes-rack.

The primary object in view is to provide a simple and inexpensive structure in which the several parts are adapted to be separably connected for ready assemblage and disengagement to enable the same to be stored in a compact space until it is desired to use the structure.

A further object is to provide an improved structure in which the separable parts are held together by a wedging action, which in sures proper retention of the parts and facilitates the assemblage and dismantling of the structure, and a further object is to provide an improved foot-piece adapted for use singly or in connection with a base to support the staff or tree-trunk against any tendency to topple over accidentally.

With these ends in view my invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts, which will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

To enable others to understand the invention, I have illustrated a preferredembodt ment thereof in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 is a view, partly in elevation and partly in section, of an artificial tree constructed in accordance with the principles of my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view through the stafi andone of the sleeves orcollars. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of the lower part of the staff with a series of collars fitted thereon, illustrating the footpiece and base. tional view through the foot-piece.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal see- Fig. 5 is entering the end of the staff 10.

a detail perspective View of one member of the base.

The same numerals of reference are used to indicate like and corresponding parts in each of the several figures of the drawings.

In carrying my invention into practice I employ a vertical staff 10, which is adapted to form the trunk of an artificial tree. This staff is tapered from its lower part to the upper extremity, and, as shown by the drawings, it may consist of a single continuous piece of wood, metal, or other suitable material; but I do not limit myself to the employment of a single-piece staff, because the staff may be made in sections adapted to be assembled rigidly and detachably together in any manner which will suggest itself to a skilled mechanic. able top section 11, adapted to be connected to the major portion of the staff in any suitable way, and this top section is formed with a tapered socket 12, which may receive a branch to finish the top of an artificial tree, or it may be equipped with an ornamental cap, such as an image or an emblem.

The lower extremity or base of the staff is supported in place by a foot-piece 13, which is cast in asingle piece of metal and is adapted for usesingly or in connection with the base, as may be preferred by the user. This footpiece is formed with a tapering socket 14., in which the lower end of the staff may be snugly fitted, and said staff may be fastened positively to the foot-piece by means of a screw ,16, adapted to pass through an aperture at the closed bottom of the socket, said screw (See Fig. 3,) The foot-piece is furthermore cast with the radial flanges 17, which are reinforced by the wedges 18, that join the vertical face of the foot-piece 13 and the horizontal faces of the flanges, and said radial flanges have vertical apertures 19, adapted for the passage of suitable screws. The foot-piece may rest upon the floor and be secured thereto by screws which pass through the apertures 19, so as to The staff is provided with a removsupport the 'stafi independently of a base;-

but in some instances it is desired that the tree or other structure shall stand on the floor without fastening the structure in place. To meet these conditions, I provide a base consisting of a series of sections 20, each section having its inner end beveled in reverse directions at 21 22. (See Figs. 4 and 5.) The members of the sectional base are adapted to be fitted below the flanges 17 of the foot-piece in a manner for the inner beveled ends of the base-sections to meet or join, so that their pointed extremities will lie in the plane of the vertical axis of the socket 14, and the members of the base may be fastened securely to the flanges of the foot-piece by screws 23, passing through the apertures 19. The base presents a broad surface adapted to rest on a floor, table, or other surface for holding the structure in its proper upright position, and when the tree is dismantled the screws 23 may be removed for ready disengagement of the base-sections from the foot-piece.

One of the important features of my invention resides in the employment of a series of sleeves or collars which are of different sizes and are constructed for application to the tapered staff 10 in a manner to make each sleeve or collar wedge or hold itself in place by impingement on the staff, and as said collars are of different sizes they maybe spaced atuniform or variable distances on the staff for the proper distribution of the branches or boughs along the stafi in order to give the tree any desired contour or appearance. Each sleeve or collar 24 is cast in a single piece of metal with a central opening, the wall of which is flared to correspond with the taper of the stafi 10, and each collar or sleeve is of a different size from every other collar or sleeve, so that the collars may be spaced at the desired distances apart along the length of the staff. The collar has a series of arms 25, which are inclined to the vertical axis of the opening in said collar, and said arms extend radially from the collar, so as to be distributed properly on the circumference thereof. The arms of each sleeve or collar have flared sockets 26, adapted for the reception of the boughs or branches 27, the end of each bough being tapered in order to fit the flared socket 26 and thereby fasten the bough in the socket by a wedging action for the purpose of preventing the bough fromturning, particularly if it should be loaded with Christmas presents.

In order to erect the structure and adapt it for use as a Christmas tree, the staff 10 is fitted in the socket of the foot-piece and secured in place by the screw 16. As before intimated, the foot-piece may be fastened to the floor or it may be attached by screws to the sectional base. After the standard is erected the largest collar or sleeve should be fitted thereto, and the series of collars of smaller sizes may then be fitted successively to the standard, each collar wedging itself firmly in position on the standard. The

branches or boughs may be thrust into the sockets of the sleeves or collars after they shall have been applied to the standard, or if desired the boughs may be fitted to the socketed arms of the sleeves before their application to the standard, this being particularly advantageous in connection with the sleeves which are fitted to the upper part of said standard. The top section 11 with the ornament maybe fitted to the upper extremity of the staff after the bough-carrying sleeves shall have been applied thereto.

One of the important features attending the use of an artificial tree constructed in accordance with my invention is that the series of collars may be fitted on the staff for the radial socketed arms to lie in different vertical positions, thus enabling the boughs to be disposed and assembled to give the tree an attractive appearance by insuring uniformity in the distribution of the branches. The branches may be obtained by cutting them from natural treesas, for example, from cedar trees-and this may readily be effected and the ends of the branches cut to form the tapering extremities adapted to wedge themselves in the flared sockets of the arms on the sleeves or collars. The fact that the branches may be dressed or trimmed before fitting them in the small-sized sleeves or collars is an advantage which will be readily appreciated by a person who is required to dress a tree because of the non-accessibility of the upper branches to the tree-dresser. Either of the branches may readily be withdrawn from the socketed collar, thus enabling a burning branch to be readily carried away from the tree without setting fire to the remaining branches. The tree may readily be dismantled by detaching the branches therefrom, thus facilitating the distribution of presents with which the tree may be loaded, and after the tree has been dismantled the staff with the series of collars thereon may be utilized for other purposes. One adaptation of the staff with the sleeves resides in the ability to dress the stafi with flags, which may be inserted in the socketed arms of the sleeves to give the structure an ornamental appearance-as, for instance, on national holidays; but the structure may be utilized as a means for supporting a series of arms from which clothing or fabrics may be suspended for drying the same. The invention, however, is especially designed for use as an artificial tree, and it presents a simple and cheap device which may be used for an indefinite period of time.

Changes in the form, proportion, size, and the minor details of construction within the scope of the appended claims may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is- 1. A device of the character described, consisting of a tapered staff and a series of different-sized collars fitted thereon for frictional wedging engagement with said staff, each colsocket and flanges, and a sectional base hav-,

ing its members fastened detachably to the flanges of the foot-piece, substantially as described.

4. An artificial tree consisting of a staff, a series of collars or sleeves fitted to said staff to hold themselves in place thereon by a wedging action and spaced at proper intervals along the staff, and boughs or branches fitted removably to each sleeve or collar, substantially as described.

5. An artificial tree consisting of a tapered staff, a series of collars fitted to said stafi to hold themselves in place by a Wedging action and each provided with radial socketed arms arranged in inclined positions to the vertical axis of the staff, and removable boughs having wedging engagement with the socketed arms of each collar,substantially as described.

6. In a device of the character described, a foot-piece provided with a socket and a series of radial flanges, a sectional base the members of which are beveled at their inner meeting ends and fitted below the flanges of the foot-piece, and means for fastening the base members individually to said flanges of the foot-piece, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ANN AS HUMMEL.

Witnesses:

R. A. ORBISON, W. B. YOUNG. 

